[success]The Daily News of Sri Lanka today (05/02/2016) published this article about how this man of God is on a mission to bring free churches in Sri Lanka under one diocesan body.[/success]
Luke 12:39 – “Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would not permit the house to be broken into. You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
Christians throughout the world are in preparation for the second coming of Lord Jesus. Therefore there is a need for the Kingdom of God to be established in any country in a powerful way.
As the Chief Overseer of the Apostolic Diocese of Ceylon, Rev. Dr. Kirby De Lanerolle has a mission to bring free churches under one body known as the Apostolic Diocese of Ceylon with the intention of giving them a governance structure. In other words they should come under a fivefold ministry – namely Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists.
“When you talk about the dynamics of a church you can have something called a free church. It does not have a governing structure. They are not accountable to someone over them. For example someone would feel a strong calling, they may have an encounter with the Lord or have a vision. So a free church would be started by every man who felt a call. But no one needs to ordain or commission them. I was the same. I felt my calling one day and I went out and ministered. After a couple of years I had a congregation of around 200. And I wondered, am I a church? But according to the Bible, a church is not a building but a group of people who get together to worship God,” said Rev. Dr. De Lanerolle.
What is a free church? It is a church that does not come under the Apostolic Five Fold Ministries.
“There are many pastors who have free churches. Which is great. I am a free church and I remain a free church. I am the pastor of ‘WOWLife’ free church. Both my wife and I are pastors.
If you take Assembly of God, they are a super denomination. There is a strong covering, with a nice structure and the pastors are trained.
The denomination gives them the ability to have the authority. If you are a pastor of AOG, it carries some sort of weight. When you go to a police station, if you are a pastor of AOG, they take notice of you. If you are a pastor at an Anglican church or a Reverend at an Anglican Church, they take more notice of you. If you say you are a father in the Catholic Church they may take more notice of you. This is because you come under an authority or a governance structure,” explained Rev. Dr. De Lanerolle.
Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.” “I want to give free churches a governance structure, so that we can be one voice in the nation. The free churches are fatherless. Spiritually it is vital that we as free churches have a father and the fivefold ministry.
This is because the kingdom of God has to be established. We have been given a mandate to establish it. The kingdom of God has fivefold ministries – Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists. If these five offices are not established in any country, the body of Christ, in that area, becomes very dysfunctional and their effectiveness is weakened,” pointed out Rev. Dr. De Lanerolle.
Rev. Dr. De Lanerolle has been appointed to be the Sri Lankan Chapter by Bishop Paul. T. Maran of Indian nationality. In 2013, De Lanerolle had a vision, to father the churches and give them a fivefold ministry.
“Amazingly Bishop Paul. T. Maran – Head of the Indian National Apostolic Diocese had the same vision.
The free churches are all scattered and not recognised. So what happened in India was Bishop Paul. T. Maran went to the government and basically represented the free churches.”
Christianity gets a bad name when there is no one to father and explain things to these free churches.
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